The highly publicized possibility for a Halo movie could have been a big hit. The franchise sold like hotcakes in the Oughts, and a sci-fi action movie would have a lot of material to draw on, but producer Avi Arad and former head of Marvel Studios eventually passed on the potentially lucrative IP. Not even Peter Jackson and Neil Blomkamp could pull it off. That didn't stop Arad from checking out more videogame properties, and he's snatched up Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid, Infamous and more, betting on videogame movies shedding their stigma to eventually sell better than films based on comic books. But the movies have to have a character an audience can relate to.

"My problem with the Halo games was that there was no face anywhere," said Arad, producer of The Amazing Spider-Man reboot. "I didn't know what to do with it. I thought about it a lot, because commercially it was huge. But when I look at things like Metal Gear Solid and I'm reading the bible for it, and there's this Cain and Abel story and all this shit, I'm like, 'Now, that is a movie!'"

Arad is sure Uncharted will be the start of a great movie franchise. "Uncharted was very natural, because it's about historical things." he said. "Emotionally, there was a very simple story about a boy searching for something, who had no origin, in a way. He was a street rat. And just like my mother used to tell me that 500 years ago we were princes in another country, someone told [Nathan Drake] something that he could hold on to. That makes for enough emotion to make a fun story."

Will Nathan Drake translate to the silver screen? "I think what will happen with Uncharted is that it will be the first of many, because it will be so fun and [I think it will be] a very big movie," Arad said. "The floodgates will open."

343 needs to drop the "No showing the Chief's face" thing. We know what he looks like. It was in the comics, and though only parts of his face were revealed at a time, we've seen all of it. The books have described it. There's no mystery. It's pointless at this point.

Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

AstylahAthrys:343 needs to drop the "No showing the Chief's face" thing. We know what he looks like. It was in the comics, and though only parts of his face were revealed at a time, we've seen all of it. The books have described it. There's no mystery. It's pointless at this point.

A movie about Uncharted would be feel like a movie of a game of an Indiana Jones film... not saying that a Metal Gear film would be any better. With such a convoluted cannon I don't think anyone could condensed the story successfully for a Hollywood blockbuster.

there are plenty of faces in the Halo universe, even in the games. I think a Halo move could work either way (showing Master Chief's face or not). I think the Uncharted games are just easier to make into movies in general, because they basically are movies already (as an Uncharted fan, I mean that in the best possible way).

People play Uncharted for the story and the setpiece moments. It gained its fame on these heavily (but not alone). Uncharted is also very character driven with contrived reasons why all the characters meet up.

Metal Gear is arguably similar. It's extremely character-driven to the point of being convoluted and nonsensical. However, it's still character driven and thus has a story that follows.

Halo was played originally for being the only acceptable game on the original XBox and then the nostalgia to follow. It's the gameplay that drives people to the franchise. The concept of Master Chief as an anonymous and being devoid of personality makes him essentially the player. YOU are Master Chief whereas you are CONTROLLING Drake or Snake.

Didn't the books describe what John's face looks like? It's not necessarily an important secret. I just never held it against Bungie because he just looked cooler with his complete armor.

Of course there is that and the fact that John-117 obviously has a personality, but when in the games is there time to show it? The point of Halo is, I think, while he is the hero in a very real way, the story is not decided by anything that he is in particular, aside from brave, of course. He isn't supposed to win the war through compassion or anything, he is just a soldier caught in the middle of the war like anyone else, and happens to be the only one capable of striking those most vital targets to win.

Bottom line, I don't think there would have been an issue with either showing his face or fleshing out his personality.

Oh good. I am glad this guy didn't do it because he is clearly an idiot. Doing a direct adaptation of the games is never going to work. A story in the same universe is as close as you can get.

It funny the article mentions Nathan Fillion because him reprising his role as Buck and following that group of characters would be a much better direction to go.

The issue with doing a Halo movie in your typical Hollywood fashion is that unless you get people who know what they are talking about to make the pitch to these executives it will never work. Producers like the guy above would be the downfall of any potential Halo Movie. I feel that MS has been smart to not just rush it out to make a quick buck and are waiting until all their ducks in a row. It didn't work out with Peter Jackson or Neil Blomkampf(However the hell you spell it), then we will wait for someone like them who knows what they are doing.

DVS BSTrD:Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

Care about what, exactly? You've made a vague comment, which doesn't help us identify the issue, which implies all you want to do is complain about the problem rather than actually fix it.

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

OT: No, there will probably never be a good video game to movie adaptation, there is too many differences in the medium.They should start by picking a good game story to adapt, rather than some standard tripe.

DVS BSTrD:Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

Care about what, exactly? You've made a vague comment, which doesn't help us identify the issue, which implies all you want to do is complain about the problem rather than actually fix it.

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

Care about what, exactly? You've made a vague comment, which doesn't help us identify the issue, which implies all you want to do is complain about the problem rather than actually fix it.

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

When clicking the "comments" part underneath the article, it showed an error.And I must say it was the 2nd time it had happened to me today as well, so it's not specifically down to him.

AstylahAthrys:343 needs to drop the "No showing the Chief's face" thing. We know what he looks like. It was in the comics, and though only parts of his face were revealed at a time, we've seen all of it. The books have described it. There's no mystery. It's pointless at this point.

Yes, but you need to think about who is included in that 'we've seen all of it'. I'm pretty sure it's only a small subset of those who have played a halo game or will buy Halo 4 and see a potential movie that have read the comics and books. And to those that haven't, it's still a mystery, and one that is infinitely more interesting than 'oh, it's some guy'. Like Pulp Fiction's briefcase or the name of the Layer Cake dude.

OT: This guy's argument is a bit daft. Is there any character that doesn't show off his/her/its face that isn't Masterchief in Masterchief's Halo story (I'm talking about the games here)? But still, he could always have just had the guy wander around without his helmet on for a bit, if he thought it was incredibly necessary. Sure, it may have annoyed some fanboys, but when has a videogame movie not annoyed some of the more ardent fans?

DVS BSTrD:Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

AstylahAthrys:343 needs to drop the "No showing the Chief's face" thing. We know what he looks like. It was in the comics, and though only parts of his face were revealed at a time, we've seen all of it. The books have described it. There's no mystery. It's pointless at this point.

Care about what, exactly? You've made a vague comment, which doesn't help us identify the issue, which implies all you want to do is complain about the problem rather than actually fix it.

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

The fact that you guys put up the article but didn't put in a working link to the thread. Go back and look at the time disparity between the OP and the first comment. That half hour gap isn't because it took someone half an hour to read and respond to the article, it's because we couldn't freaking get here to post before then. Seriously you guys, this wasn't an issue even for ZP before you made that stupid format switch and gets really annoying running into that Fail Pony on every other thread. What's with the drop in quality control around here? Did you get bought out by Bethesda?

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

The fact that you guys put up the article but didn't put in a working link to the thread. Go back and look at the time disparity between the OP and the first comment. That half hour gap isn't because it took someone half an hour to read and respond to the article, it's because we couldn't freaking get here to post before then. Seriously you guys, this wasn't an issue even for ZP before you made that stupid format switch and gets really annoying running into that Fail Pony on every other thread. What's with the drop in quality control around here? Did you get bought out by Bethesda?

The hostility is unwarranted and unnecessary. If there was some sort of technical issue, I apologize, but berating us isn't the proper way to handle it. The more information we have, the better chance we have of fixing whatever bug is causing the problem. We don't want browsing our stories to be frustrating. Acting like we're somehow choosing to screw you over because we find it amusing or simply don't give a damn doesn't help anyone.

Bobic:OT: This guy's argument is a bit daft. Is there any character that doesn't show off his/her/its face that isn't Masterchief in Masterchief's Halo story (I'm talking about the games here)? But still, he could always have just had the guy wander around without his helmet on for a bit, if he thought it was incredibly necessary. Sure, it may have annoyed some fanboys, but when has a videogame movie not annoyed some of the more ardent fans?

Well if you're counting all of the games there's also Red Team from Halo Wars, the Rookie from Halo 3: ODST, and Spartan-B312 and Emile-A239 from Halo: Reach who don't show their faces. Though with the exception of Emile these are either blank slate player avatars or minor characters.

Honestly though, it's not like the Master Chief needs to be in a Halo movie. The Haloverse is very expansive.

But I get it, they think the property is unmarketable without him so put him in with an ensemble cast. Halo: Combat Evolved is actually pretty well suited to an ensemble cast if you draw material from Halo: The Flood and implied back-story from later games. Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor has some good stuff to work with as well if you want the Covenant perspective in the film (which I think would be for the best).

All in all I think it's a very doable endeavor and the so-called "lack of faces" is really a non-issue.

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

The fact that you guys put up the article but didn't put in a working link to the thread. Go back and look at the time disparity between the OP and the first comment. That half hour gap isn't because it took someone half an hour to read and respond to the article, it's because we couldn't freaking get here to post before then. Seriously you guys, this wasn't an issue even for ZP before you made that stupid format switch and gets really annoying running into that Fail Pony on every other thread. What's with the drop in quality control around here? Did you get bought out by Bethesda?

In defense of Escapist I never experienced your described problemsEven with just posted content I never had any problemsSo are you sure it isn't your side?And even if it isn't, you have right to complain only if you're PAYING them, and even in this case being a dick isn't a best tactical choice.So let me loosely translate wise words my SZA teacher once said to meCALM THE FUCK DOWN!!!

P.S. And in case Escapist actually was bought by Bethesda, when will this website start to support mods? :D

DVS BSTrD:Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

AstylahAthrys:343 needs to drop the "No showing the Chief's face" thing. We know what he looks like. It was in the comics, and though only parts of his face were revealed at a time, we've seen all of it. The books have described it. There's no mystery. It's pointless at this point.

But if they give him a face he might be expected to give him...

*GASP*

a personality!

The sad thing is, he HAS a personality, but the games are to scared to fucking show it.

Good idea, stop the halo games, and just make halo books, those are 10X more interesting anyway...

OT: Bull...fucking...shit, the Halo universe is HUGE, but you cant stop concentrating on the master chief.

Anyway, Back to topicI always thought that face of Master Chief was never shown, because there was something wrong with his faceLike, horribly disfigured by some accidentI always imagined that in movie they could do a scene where he takes off his helmet while being filmed from behindThen camera circles to show his face and there is a big FU moment, because he is wearing balaclava all the time.Or something like thatAlso if there is a character who wants to know MC better, and asks what is under his maskAnswer"Skin, fat, muscle and bone. The usual."would be badass. Cheesy? Maybe, but still badass.

Sis:You already have the face to sustain the franchise, guys. He's the sexy bastard called Johnson.

Aye. Stick a scene in a Halo movie with Johnson shouting "Wrong!" as a covenant takes a sniper round to the face (as per the ODST firefight trailer) and we'll be set. Also, I seem to recall there being plenty of other characters with faces in the Halo franchise. Like Buck. Or a good chunk of Noble Team, to just rhyme off a few more quickly.

Captcha: the dude abides.

Brilliant! In fact, that's the solution there. Master Chief removes his helmet and boom! Turns out it's been The Dude in that suit of armour all along.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

The fact that you guys put up the article but didn't put in a working link to the thread. Go back and look at the time disparity between the OP and the first comment. That half hour gap isn't because it took someone half an hour to read and respond to the article, it's because we couldn't freaking get here to post before then. Seriously you guys, this wasn't an issue even for ZP before you made that stupid format switch and gets really annoying running into that Fail Pony on every other thread. What's with the drop in quality control around here? Did you get bought out by Bethesda?

The hostility is unwarranted and unnecessary. If there was some sort of technical issue, I apologize, but berating us isn't the proper way to handle it. The more information we have, the better chance we have of fixing whatever bug is causing the problem. We don't want browsing our stories to be frustrating. Acting like we're somehow choosing to screw you over because we find it amusing or simply don't give a damn doesn't help anyone.

For the record I do still enjoy coming here most of the time. Yes, I know they don't technically owe me anything, but it annoys me that service problems have become such an issue now (and they have, I don't get Fail Pony when it's on MY end trust me) when there doesn't seem to be a legitimate reason for it and I'm disappointed that the people running this site seem to be unaware of it. This place used to be so easy to navigate, threads and videos would show up WHEN they were posted and you wouldn't have to waste time trying to find them. Now with missing threads, dropped posts, the format change, the BANNED avatar and the deletion of all the videos of "the show that must not be named" it's hard not to get a vindictive vibe from this site some days.

For the record I do still enjoy coming here most of the time. Yes, I know they don't technically owe me anything, but it annoys me that service problems have become such an issue now (and they have, I don't get Fail Pony when it's on MY end trust me) when there doesn't seem to be a legitimate reason for it and I'm disappointed that the people running this site seem to be unaware of it. This place used to be so easy to navigate, threads and videos would show up WHEN they were posted and you wouldn't have to waste time trying to find them. Now with missing threads, dropped posts, the format change, the BANNED avatar and the deletion of all the videos of "the show that must not be named" it's hard not to get a vindictive vibe from this site some days.

While I understand your frustration, I don't exactly understand chosen toneYes, shit happens, sometimes more often, sometimes less often, but happensI would even go so far and claim that we all are under Damocles shitpileSo understanding is crucial in such casesEspecially considering that Escapist website have more visitors now, than few years before.

And regarding Extra Credits- they went to Penny Arcade TV, and those episodes went with them, as those were the property of EC creators. It would be strange if Escapist would keep them on-siteOh, and yes I said Extra CreditsWant to see something even better?ExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsSee I'm still aliveIt's not like Escapist will track me down and send assassin to deal with mgfcxvgkjvsnijpa bkjdfhyubvndfsjm

DVS BSTrD:The fact that you guys put up the article but didn't put in a working link to the thread. Go back and look at the time disparity between the OP and the first comment. That half hour gap isn't because it took someone half an hour to read and respond to the article, it's because we couldn't freaking get here to post before then. Seriously you guys, this wasn't an issue even for ZP before you made that stupid format switch and gets really annoying running into that Fail Pony on every other thread. What's with the drop in quality control around here? Did you get bought out by Bethesda?

The hostility is unwarranted and unnecessary. If there was some sort of technical issue, I apologize, but berating us isn't the proper way to handle it. The more information we have, the better chance we have of fixing whatever bug is causing the problem. We don't want browsing our stories to be frustrating. Acting like we're somehow choosing to screw you over because we find it amusing or simply don't give a damn doesn't help anyone.

For the record I do still enjoy coming here most of the time. Yes, I know they don't technically owe me anything, but it annoys me that service problems have become such an issue now (and they have, I don't get Fail Pony when it's on MY end trust me) when there doesn't seem to be a legitimate reason for it and I'm disappointed that the people running this site seem to be unaware of it. This place used to be so easy to navigate, threads and videos would show up WHEN they were posted and you wouldn't have to waste time trying to find them. Now with missing threads, dropped posts, the format change, the BANNED avatar and the deletion of all the videos of "the show that must not be named" it's hard not to get a vindictive vibe from this site some days.

Frustration is understandable, and I really, really do regret that you feel that way. But I assure you, we're not messing with anyone. We want you guys to love coming here, and technical issues get in the way of that. Also, don't confuse "aren't aware" with "are aware and aren't sure how to fix." The non-creation of a thread to go with a news post has been a bug for quite a while, but it's not a bug we can create on demand, so it's been devilishly hard to fix. Whenever we think we have it licked, it happens again. Our back end tech is entirely custom and, frankly, is showing its wear and tear in a few places. We're doing our best every day to improve your experience because the happier you are, the happier we are. Seriously, you think we like working really hard and having people yell at us every day, accusing us "not giving a damn"? It sucks.

The best I can say is that when you do encounter a tech issue that seems more serious than just a random internet burp, please let us know as quickly as you can, with as much information as you can. (Things like browser, OS, etc.) Give us the benefit of the doubt that we want to do right by you guys, and help us do that.

Brilliant! In fact, that's the solution there. Master Chief removes his helmet and boom! Turns out it's been The Dude in that suit of armour all along.

Can you be more specific, please.There are few Dudes in media, I can remember

Infernai:So, this film series wouldn't have worked because the main characters lack any form of facial features being visible?

Huh.....

So i guess by that Logic, Red vs Blue shouldn't be as popular as it is!

Well, they reveled faces of few characters recently, but yes mostly these?soldiers (calling Caboose soldier is just wrong)?guys (I'm not so sure about Donut)?people (once again, I'm not so sure about Simons)?cannon fodder (Griff is too fat to be fodded in any cannon)?other (Yes, "Other", I like "Other"!)are faceless.

But what works for intelligent and highly sophisticated internet people, doesn't work for braindead and retarded movie theater crowd.

Now I should got and check their siteI heard season 10 was on the way.

DVS BSTrD:Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

AstylahAthrys:343 needs to drop the "No showing the Chief's face" thing. We know what he looks like. It was in the comics, and though only parts of his face were revealed at a time, we've seen all of it. The books have described it. There's no mystery. It's pointless at this point.

But if they give him a face he might be expected to give him...

*GASP*

a personality!

He has a personality. He's actually a rather conflicted character. Read the books and you'll understand. And yes, I know they should really have that personality translate to the games, but my point still stands.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to think here. I'm one of the rare few gamers who thought they'd already done videogame movies well with the Silent Hill and Resident Evil films - and that's about it. But, if any current videogame frnchise would translate well to the big screen, it's Nathan Drake and Uncharted. Reason being that it's basically a game version of an Indiana Jones film anyway, except without Nazis or Soviets, and actually good. It would be simple to make a film that's true to the games while still being prety much similar to the early Indy films - and even better if Nathan Fillion plays the lead. Metal Gear Solid, on the other hand, I have no views either way.

As for Halo, I'm currently reserving my judgement. I strongly believe that a Halo film would be amazing if they used the Jackson/Blomkamp collaboration that was originally attached, before they left to make District 9. That same sort of style would work for a Halo film too, but I'd want a new story that is different to the games, but still canon, and enough to introduce newcomers to the franchise while still being an eye-opener for long-time fans like myself as well - that would be a pretty tough feat to accomplish. That being said, the live-action trailers for ODST, Reach, and Halo 4, have all been amazing so far. With 'Forward Unto Dawn', the 90-minute series of short films being released on Halo Waypoint over the months leading up to Halo 4's release, we may yet see a pretty awesome film-substitute anyway, and if it goes well then possibly it would be enough to prompt a full movie later. But until I see it for myself (and I will, as I intend to pre-order the Limited Edition of the game), I won't be making judgement. Pros exist, and so do cons. That's all I'm saying.